Author: Kathy Gannon
Publication: Associated
Press
Date: July 13, 2000
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan -
Nine months after he took power in Pakistan, the honeymoon seems to be
over for the military leader, General Pervez Musharraf.
Many Pakistanis appear
to be wondering why they so openly welcomed him on Oct. 12, the day
a bloodless army coup swept Premier Nawaz Sharif, disgraced as corrupt
and power-hungry, from office.
Musharraf, in an interview,
said Pakistan is one of the most difficult countries in the world to govern.
His country has all the
resources and people it needs to run well, Musharraf said. But, he
said, a string of corrupt and incompetent leaders have badly hurt the country.
''We need to get our
own act together,'' the military leader said in the interview Tuesday.
''We have all the potential. I am confident that we will get our
act together.''
Not all his countrymen
share his confidence.
When Musharraf came to
power, Abdur Rahim was a clerk in a bank, had a modest home, and had hopes
that something good was about to happen in Pakistan. On this day,
Rahim's hand trembled as he wiped beads of sweat from his brow. He
had stood for hours in the 104-degree sun hoping for a day's work at a
construction site.
He barely stopped to
catch his breath as he rattled off his woes: Wheat prices are up; sugar
prices are up; there are no jobs. He has seven children, all of them
of school age. He squeezed his eyes to stop tears.
''Every day I wonder
where am I going to get money for food, for school, for everything.
I have nothing,'' Rahim said. ''When I lost my job they called it
a golden handshake, but I didn't get any money. This is how this
government is helping the poor man.
''There are 10 people
for every one job waiting in line as a day laborer,'' he said. ''The
army has done nothing to make things better.''
Analysts say it was a
naive military that took power on Oct. 12, unaware of the level of
corruption here, the disastrous state of the economy, and the power of
Pakistan's vested interests.
''They completely underestimated
just the facts of the problem, and it has since dawned on them that they
face a much larger problem than they thought,'' said Riffat Hussain, international
relations professor at Qaid-e-Azam University in Islamabad.
But Musharraf said he
knows the problems - sectarian strife, a troubled and potentially dangerous
relationship with India, a proliferation of armed groups, a militant and
powerful religious right, corrupt politicians and bureaucrats, and an economy
in shambles.
''Let me tell you,''
he said, ''there are thousands of issues in Pakistan. There is a
sea of problems in Pakistan, so you have to pick out from that sea and
decide, what do you focus on?''
Musharraf's army-led
government has chosen economic revival, improved governance, interprovincial
harmony, and development of a political culture. The Supreme Court
has told Musharraf that he has three years to return democratic rule to
Pakistan. It will be a tight schedule, but Musharraf says he can
meet the deadline.
His government points
to some economic indicators that show signs of improvement.
Investor confidence is
up slightly. In Musharraf's nine months of rule, the Karachi Stock
Index has increased by almost 300 points. The index has plunged for
much of the previous year of Sharif's rule.
But Musharraf faces another
tough fiscal battle: trying to get Pakistanis to pay their taxes.
Barely 1.2 million of Pakistan's 140 million people pay taxes. The
wealthiest, many of them former politicians, pay only a few hundred dollars.
''We have to collect
taxes. This is our lifeline,'' Musharraf said.
Resistance has been stiff,
particularly from business leaders who have operated on a cash-only basis
and who fear a deeply corrupt tax department. They have been calling
weekly strikes and joining hands with religious right-wing groups in what
could be a lethal combination for Musharraf's government: Religious conservatives
have been telling business leaders that the only tax God requires is 2.5
percent of their income.
''They are a military
government and have the power, yet they have been very reluctant to wield
that power and instead have come across as a bunch of nice guys who can
be taken for a ride,'' Hussain said.
